Saturday, August 23, 2008

Update on the boys and the hip

Well, today we went to a lure coursing place to try it out. Lure coursing is where a course is set up with jumps and tunnels for the dogs to go through. It is different than agility (which Ripken competes in) because in lure coursing a raccoon tail (or something like that) is on a string and pulled through the course that the dogs have to run. The system is electronic so it can go pretty fast. The course record for this weekend was 11.18 seconds. Ripken, who has never done this before did 11.65, 12.57, and 12.98 seconds in his runs. Most of the other dogs were in the 15-25 second range so Ripken did great. I thought he would be a natural with his high prey drive and I was right. Unfortunately, I was on my feet too much today so my hip is really hurting. I was standing for 90 minutes getting peoples times in the 5k our rec center hosted, then walking back and forth with Ripken at lure coursing for another 2 hours. Maybe it wasn't the best idea, but at least I know I can't hurt the joint at this point so being sore is okay. Also, both of my boys are finalists for the AKC Therapy Dog of the Year and are on the AKC website. Here is a link to the page: http://www.akc.org/news/ace/2008/nominees.cfmThe names are in alphabetical order, but Armstrong and Ripken (yes they mis-spelled his name) are both on there. I didn't know there were so many finalists, but hopefully one of them will win. They are both so good at the work they do for kids. On that note, I am finally healed enough for Armstrong and I to go back to Primary Children's Hospital. I didn't want to go when I wasn't getting around well. Now, I am walking with only a slight limp so we are going back. I talked tp the guy in charge of child life in the cancer unit and he said the kids have all missed Armstrong and are excited to have him come back. I think Armstrong may be almost as excited to be with a bunch of kids petting him again. Well, that is all of the latest. I will post again soon.